Building entrance protector (BEP) is the name used in the art of telephone equipment to describe the junction box where telephone lines from outside plant (OSP) wiring are joined to customer premises equipment. In the most common application, the BEP is the place where the telephone lines from a telephone pole, for example, enter a building and are joined to the telephone system within that building. Within the BEP there is an input wire termination device that receives the telephone lines contained within the outside plant wiring. Also contained within the BEP is an output wire termination device that receives the telephone lines required for the customer premises equipment. The telephone lines required for the customer premises are typically referred to as inside plant (ISP) wiring.
The distinction between OSP wiring and ISP wiring is an important one, since the responsibility for maintaining the integrity of each type of wiring typically rests with different parties. For instance, the responsibility for maintaining OSP wiring generally rests with the telephone service provider, while the responsibility for maintaining ISP wiring is generally that of the customer, unless the customer has contracted with the service provider for another type of maintenance arrangement.
Because the responsibility for remedying a problem with a customer's communication system may shift depending on the source of the problem, i.e., OSP or ISP wiring, it is imperative that the source of the problem first be determined before taking corrective action. A prior art solution for determining whether a telephone or communication system problem exists in either the OSP or ISP wiring is to provide a specific type of bridging device at the customer's premises at or near the BEP, where the transition from OSP to ISP wiring is made so that a person attempting to service a problem may tap into the phone lines to assist in determining the source of the problem. One example of a bridging device includes an RJ-11 jack that accepts a corresponding RJ-11 plug of the type typically utilized with telephone line cords. An RJ-11 plug that is inserted into the bridging device (and a telephone device connected thereto) will be coupled directly to the corresponding OSP wiring, bypassing the ISP wiring.
One scenario for use of the described bridging device is as follows. If a telephone subscriber living in an apartment building with many individual subscribers experiences a telephone problem at a location equipped with such bridging devices, the subscriber may be instructed to plug his or her telephone into the corresponding jack of the bridging device located at or near the BEP in, for example, a utility room. If the telephone operates when plugged into the bridging device (when coupled directly to the OSP wiring) then by process of elimination, the problem would typically be located within the ISP wiring and be the responsibility of the customer. If, on the other hand, this is not the case, and the communications channel still does not operate while being directly coupled to the OSP wiring then it can be deduced that the OSP wiring is at fault.
Utilizing these prior art customer bridging devices, a customer or a telephone company service person can in general narrow the source of a communications problem to OSP or ISP wiring. One significant problem with the above test procedures (and the use of such prior art customer bridging devices), however, is that an assumption is made regarding the condition of the telephone instrument itself, i.e., that it is in working order. It is illogical, however, to have the customer utilize his or her own telephone in order to sectionalize the problem, since if in fact the customer telephone is not in proper working order, an incorrect problem diagnosis will be made that the OSP wiring is at fault, in that normal calling procedures cannot be followed. In addition, these prior art devices do not offer any assistance in diagnosing the specific type of problem, e.g., "short" or "open", once the location of the problem in general has been determined. Accordingly, there is a need for a low cost bridging device for installation at customer premises, which eliminates inconsistencies in prior art testing techniques and which also includes diagnostic capabilities for determining the type of problem located.